My first QB came from Golden Joe ( anyone here remember Golden Joe ??? ) and was, well, a bit rough. If you ran you finger nail down the barrel it would file your nail down to nothing in one stroke, the cocking bolts used to almost all come bent but not in a kind way ( say with a hammer or boo boo ) but from the metal type and machining the darn things just bent up, often they only needed a good whack with a hand sledge, they didn't have scope grooves back then either.
I have owned several since then and quality did improve for years, slowly, then a "sole" US Distributor got the import contract and quality seemed to back slide slightly then hold.
They are a VALUE no matter the year made but I got one last week for $99.00 delivered and was somewhat impressed with the out of the box quality! I would have no idea how old this model really is ( warehouses & all ) but it is the best I've ever seen. Maybe (?) it is from the most current batch and contract with "Beeman" - whomever that branch of beeman is today - maybe older?
First while still dyed slightly Redish the Stock looks very good, none of the old filler/bondo as in the past and the inletting is as good or better than most pre-charged rifles today, excellent potential for refinishing or just leave it ( used to be a great idea to paint or bed liner them).
Box, label & owners manual haven't changed
but they now have a serial number sticker on the stock that match which matchs the number on the rifle , different.
The safety now has an arrow, towards rear is fire
Maybe you can see ALL the preservative used on it, my thumb print to far right, LUBE leaking down the pressure tube, more finger prints ( mine from lifting it out of box) over to the left on the wood
Used my "degasser" to remove safety
you can see the plunger you need to clear to remove safety
And the very first washer I've ever seen on the stock bolt, a penny well spent to me
Barrel retention screw, but look at the metal finish, dull & gray except for some nice bluing showing right against the breech
I used Mothers Chrome polish to high light the transfer port burr and transition in pellet loading
TINY little transfer port ( .22 ) - 528fps average w/18g-
Again wiped on a little Mothers to make it easier to see the rifling which looks very good indeed
Wait, an actual formed/shaped/made transfer port? Yup, small but fits tight
Now that good bluing under the breech section gave me hope so I use , yes, Mothers Chrome polish, first four passes with mothers then a pass with mothers mixed with Barricade ( gun oil) then lot's of gun oil then wiped down & dried over night and they IS bluing!!!
Finish actually looks better than my pictures.
The ONLY thing I would now like the factory to add is the 2mm lock nuts the trigger needs but that's a few cents at Ace Hardware and you need to adjust them anyway.
I had though it odd that after a LONG shortage of .22 QB's "Big - 5 " was the first to get a batch, normally the big box places are slightly picky about QC ( looks anyway ) and I certainly couldn't see a store selling the QC of the originals, now I see how they sold out so fast on the first batch they got. Really not sure if this one is the same as the stores now sell, this one came from midway and was $97.00 delivered Priority Mail.
I can NOT use iron sights ( blindish) but managed two less than 1" groups at 25 yards in HIGH wind not being able to see my POA so I am thinking it will shoot well. I still need to de-burr the transfer port , polish & adjust and add those 2 2mm lock nuts to the trigger and it will be a great little rig!
A great trigger AND very very good fit and finish on a sub $100.00 rifle, just great airgun times we live in.
John
I have owned several since then and quality did improve for years, slowly, then a "sole" US Distributor got the import contract and quality seemed to back slide slightly then hold.
They are a VALUE no matter the year made but I got one last week for $99.00 delivered and was somewhat impressed with the out of the box quality! I would have no idea how old this model really is ( warehouses & all ) but it is the best I've ever seen. Maybe (?) it is from the most current batch and contract with "Beeman" - whomever that branch of beeman is today - maybe older?
First while still dyed slightly Redish the Stock looks very good, none of the old filler/bondo as in the past and the inletting is as good or better than most pre-charged rifles today, excellent potential for refinishing or just leave it ( used to be a great idea to paint or bed liner them).
Box, label & owners manual haven't changed
but they now have a serial number sticker on the stock that match which matchs the number on the rifle , different.
The safety now has an arrow, towards rear is fire
Maybe you can see ALL the preservative used on it, my thumb print to far right, LUBE leaking down the pressure tube, more finger prints ( mine from lifting it out of box) over to the left on the wood
Used my "degasser" to remove safety
you can see the plunger you need to clear to remove safety
And the very first washer I've ever seen on the stock bolt, a penny well spent to me
Barrel retention screw, but look at the metal finish, dull & gray except for some nice bluing showing right against the breech
I used Mothers Chrome polish to high light the transfer port burr and transition in pellet loading
TINY little transfer port ( .22 ) - 528fps average w/18g-
Again wiped on a little Mothers to make it easier to see the rifling which looks very good indeed
Wait, an actual formed/shaped/made transfer port? Yup, small but fits tight
Now that good bluing under the breech section gave me hope so I use , yes, Mothers Chrome polish, first four passes with mothers then a pass with mothers mixed with Barricade ( gun oil) then lot's of gun oil then wiped down & dried over night and they IS bluing!!!
Finish actually looks better than my pictures.
The ONLY thing I would now like the factory to add is the 2mm lock nuts the trigger needs but that's a few cents at Ace Hardware and you need to adjust them anyway.
I had though it odd that after a LONG shortage of .22 QB's "Big - 5 " was the first to get a batch, normally the big box places are slightly picky about QC ( looks anyway ) and I certainly couldn't see a store selling the QC of the originals, now I see how they sold out so fast on the first batch they got. Really not sure if this one is the same as the stores now sell, this one came from midway and was $97.00 delivered Priority Mail.
I can NOT use iron sights ( blindish) but managed two less than 1" groups at 25 yards in HIGH wind not being able to see my POA so I am thinking it will shoot well. I still need to de-burr the transfer port , polish & adjust and add those 2 2mm lock nuts to the trigger and it will be a great little rig!
A great trigger AND very very good fit and finish on a sub $100.00 rifle, just great airgun times we live in.
John